Hospital robe



A. KERN HOSPITAL ROBE Feb. 20, 1968 Filed June 20, 1966 INVENTDR AliceKern 3,369,256 Patented Feb. 20, 1968 Free 3,369,256 HOSPITAL ROBE AliceKern, 405 W. 9th Ave, Tarentum, Pa. 15084 Filed June 20, 1966, Ser. No.558386 8 Claims. (Cl. 2-114) The present invention relates to hospitalgarments and more particularly to a hospital garment in the form of arobe which is adapted particularly for use by bedridden or semi-invalidpatients.

Conventional hospital garments in this category are usually of a slip-onor an open-back structure which is bulky and tends to bunch resulting indiscomfort to the wearer. It is, moreover, difiicult to dress andundress patients with such garments.

Conventional garments also fail to provide suitable access for theexamining physician or for treatment or other administrations withoutremoving the garment, thereby resulting in embarrassment and furtherdiscomfort to the wearer. Similarly, conventional garments have not beenadvantageously constructed to permit the usual bodily functions orspecial bodily functions, for example, catheter administrations, withoutremoving the ganment.

Finally, conventional hospital garments have been constructed so as topresent an institutional appearance and thus have enhanced rather thandiminished the mental anxieties attendant upon bedridden or semi-invalidconditions of patients.

I have overcome the aforementioned difficulties associated withconventional hospital garments, by providing a novel robe type garmentwhich can be worn with equal facility by bedridden or semi-invalidpatients, by patients not confined to the bed and by hospital in orout-patients, in general. My novel hospital robe is arranged so as topresent a pleasing and a more or less normal appearance of an every daygarment. The depressing, institutionalized appearance of conventionalhospital garments is, therefore, eliminated.

I further provide a hospital garment such as a robe having a full orcomplete opening down the rear portion thereof to facilitate dressingand undressing bedridden or semi-invalid patients. The opening issecured desirably, by quick attached fastening means such as snapfasteners, which are loosely spaced to facilitate attendance upon thepatients such as for dressing or undressing purposes, or forexamination, treatment, or other procedures.

The front of my novel hospital robe is arranged so as to present muchthe same frontal appearance of a conventional bathrobe or the like. Infurtherance of this r purpose the robe is provided with a conventional Vor other suitable neck opening and an overlapping junction extendingtherefrom to the hemline of the garment. Desirably, the overlappingjunction is stitched or otherwise fastened from the junction thereofwith the neckline to a point below the waist of the wearer. Theremainder of the lap junction is unsecured in order to provide access tothe wearers body for the examin ng physician, attendance to bodilyfunctions, treatment and other administrations. Desirably, the materialof the garment is lapped to a considerable extent in the region of thelower front opening of the garment, in order to substantially concealthe opening during normal postures of the wearer.

In order to enhance the appearance of the garment, a belt is provided ina modification of my garment and is arranged for use after the manner ofa typical bathrobe belt. However, to prevent its loss, the belt ispermanently secured to the robe, as by stitching, rather than throughthe use of conventional belt loops. Desirably the belt is secured to thegarment but in an inobvious manner in order to preserve its illusion ofa conventional bathrobe belt. In furtherance of this purpose, thesecurance of the belt to the robe is made at the side thereof and at apoint or relatively small area intermediate the belt ends as to make thesecurance as inobvious as possible and so as not to interfere with therear opening of the garment. This arrangement facilitates use of therobe by the wearer or manipulation of the robe by hospital personnelattending the patient, as the case may be. Conventional belt loops canbe app-lied to the robe to further simulate the frontal appearance of aconventional bathrobe and to facilitate use of the belt by the wearer.

During the foregoing discussion, certain objects, features andadvantages of the invention have been set forth. These and otherobjects, features and advantages of the invention will be elaboratedupon during the forthcoming detailed description of certain presentlypreferred embodiments ofthe invention, together with preferred methodsof practicing the same.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown certain presently preferredmodifications of the invention and have illustrated certain preferredmethods of practicing the same, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of one form of hospital ganmentsuch as a robe constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a rear perspective view of the hospital garment illustratedin FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a crosssectional view of the garment 1 as shown in FIGURE 1and taken along reference line IIIIII thereof; and

FIGURE 4 is another cross-sectional view of the garment as shown inFIGURE 1 and taken along reference line IVIV thereof.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the exemplary form ofthe invention shown therein includes a. robe-like garment 10 having, inthis example, a V- neckline 12, sleeves 14- and other accessories suchas pockets 15 so as to present the appearance of a normal or everydaygarment. As better shown in FIGURE 2, the garment It is constructed witha full length or complete opening extending down the back thereof, asdenoted by reference character 16. Desirably, the opposing edges of theopening 16 are provided with suitable quickattach fastening means suchas snap fasteners 18. The fasteners 18, in this example, are relativelyremotely spaced to minimize the time required for dressing or undressingthe wearer. However, the lapped portions 17 and 19 adjacent the opening16 prevent separation of material thereat and exposure of the wearersbody in those areas between the widely separated fasteners 18, duringnormal body postures. The use of the remotely spaced fasteners 18 alsofacilitates partially opening the garment id at the upper or lowerrear'portions thereof for examination, treatment or other functions.

At the front of the garment 10 a lapped junction 20 is formed whichextends preferably from the lower front extremity of the neckline 12 tothe hemline 22 of the garment 10. Preferably, the lapped junction 20 isstitched from the neckline to a point below the waist of the wearer asindicated by chain line 24. A similar row of stitching, denoted by chainline 26, desirably, is utilized to secure the inner edge of the lappedjunction 20 in order to prevent bunching of the garment material at thejunction 20.

The remainder of the lapped junction from the lower extremities of thestitching 24, 26 to the hemline 22 of the garment is left open toprovide access to the body of the wearer for examination purposes,treatment and other administrations, and normal bodily functions withoutremoval of the garment. The lapped structure of the junction 20 rendersthe lower front opening of the garment,

which is denoted by the bracket 28, inobvious and thus aids inpreserving a normal frontal appearance of the garment. The extent of theoverlappage of the garment material in the area of the junction 20, andparticularly the lower front opening portion 23 thereof, can be variedto a greater or lesser extent than that shown. Desirably, suchoverlappage is sufficient to prevent inadvertent opening or separationof such garment material during normal postures of the wearer and thuscan be varied in anticipation of the activity or inactivity of a givencategory of patients. In one arrangement of my garment the lappedfrontal junction is formed by overlapping edges 25 and 27 whichrespectively are extrapolations of the apposing edges 29 and 31 of theV-neck 12 from the lower extremity thereof to hemline 22.

Desirably, also the lines of stitching 24, 26 are terminated adjacentthe upper extremities of the pockets 15. Thus, when the wearer placeshis hands in the pockets 15 the tendency to separate the freeoverlapping edges 25 and 27 at the lower front opening 28 is positivelyprevented.

In another form of my hospital garment, garment 10 can be provided witha belt 30, which is constructed in accordance with the invention toenhance both the mental and physical comfort of the wearer and tofacilitate use and care of the garment. Thus, the belt is arranged tofurther enhance the frontal impression of a normal garment and thus toavoid the institutionalized appearance of conventional hospital wearingapparel. The use of the belt 30 also tends to preserve at least to someextent, the mental and physical comfort of the patient when the front orrear portions of the garment 10 are opened or partially opened as thecase may be for examination purposes or other treatment procedures andadministrations.

In order to prevent separation or loss of the belt 30 by inattentivepatients or during laundering of the garment, the belt 30, desirably, ispermanently secured to the garment 10. I prefer, however, to make suchsecurance in an inobvious manner so as not to detract from the more orless normal appearance of my hospital garment. In furtherance of thispurpose, the belt 30 is secured at a point or relatively small areaintermediate its ends, as by one or more transverse rows of stitching32, to the garment 10. The stitching or other belt securance 32preferably is located at the side of the garment to make the securanceas inobvious as possible and to prevent its interfering with either therear opening 16 or the front opening 28 of the garment 10. Thus,throughout the preponderant proportion of its length the belt 30 can bemanipulated to assume the appearance of a conventional garment belt.

In still another form of my hospital garment the illusion of aconventional, frontal appearance of the garment 10, :as viewed in FIGURE1, can be enhanced still further by the provision of the conventionalbelt loops 34, the remote one of which cooperates with belt stitching 32to support and properly locate the belt 30.

In view of the foregoing, it will be apparent that novel and efficientforms of hospital garments have been disclosed herein. The garment isparticularly designed to facilitate the care and treatment of hospitalpatients especially during dressing and undressing, examination and thelike administrations, without causing undue discomfort and embarrassmentto the wearer of the garment. It will be understood, of course, thatcertain features of the invention can be utilized without acorresponding use of other features thereof. Accordingly, while I haveshown and described certain presently preferred embodiments of theinvention and have illustrated certain presently preferred methods ofpracticing the same, it is to be distinctly understood that theinvention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodiedand practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A hospital garment comprising a robe-like structure having afull-length rear opening extending from a high rear neckline to ahemline of at least knee length, said structure having a front portionpresenting the appearance of a mans bathrobe, and having a V-necklineopening and a full-length lapped frontal junction extending from saidneckline opening to said hemline, the overlapping edges of said junctionbeing respectively extrapolations of the apposing inward edges of saidV-neckline and extending from the lower extremity of said V-neckline tosaid hemline, and a pair of single rows of stitching commencing at saidlower extremity and extending along said edges respectively to pointsbelow a waist line of said garment, said rows of stitching securing theupper portion of said lapped frontal junction, and the lower portion ofsaid junction being open from the lower termini of said rows ofstitching to said hemline.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said garment is providedwith a belt stitched at a position intermediate the ends thereof to oneside of said garment and away from either opening thereof, and a beltloop is provided adjacent the opposite side of said garment and awayfrom said openings to aid in supporting said belt.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the material of saidgarment is parallel-lapped along the length of said rear opening andwidely spaced snap fastener means are secured to the parallel-lappedportions of said material.

4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein one of said fasteners ismounted adjacent the bottom of said rear opening, another of saidfasteners is mounted adjacent the top thereof, and at most twoadditional fasteners are spacedly mounted between the aforementionedtasteners.

5. The combination according to claim 1 wherein a pair of pocketstructures are spacedly secured to said front portion on either side ofsaid junction, said pockets being located adjacent the lower termini ofsaid rows of stitching to prevent spread of the lower open portion ofsaid junction when a wearers hands are placed in said pocketsrespectively.

6. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said garment is formedfrom a pair of similarly shaped panels, said panels being substantiallyparallel-lapped at the rear of a wearers body to form said rear opening,said panels in addition defining a V-neckline and divergent-lapped edgesextrapolated therefrom to form said frontal junction, said panels beingdetachably secured along said rear opening by a minimum of widely spacedsnap fasteners, said panels being secured by said rows of stitchingalong said divergent edges respectively.

7. The combination according to claim 6 wherein a pocket structure isstitched to each of said panels adjacent the front junction of saidgarment and further adjacent the lower termini of said rows of stitchingso that a wearers hands placed in the pockets respectively will notspread the lower open portion of said frontal junction.

8. The combination according to claim 6 wherein a belt for said garmentis joined at a position intermediate its ends to the central region ofone of said panels by a single row of stitching, and a belt supportingloop is joined to the central region of the other of said panels.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 508,846 11/1893 Seaney 2641,462,515 7/1923 McElroy 2-114 X 2,331,051 10/1943 Severance 21142,707,282 5/1955 Paterson 2114 3,160,891 12/1964 MacDonald 269 RICHARDJ. SCANLAN, IR., Primary Examiner.

1. A HOSPITAL GARMENT COMPRISING A ROBE-LIKE STRUCTURE HAVING AFULL-LENGTH REAR OPENING EXTENDING FROM A HIGH REAR NECKLING TO AHEMLINE OF AT LEAST KNEE LENGTH, SAID STRUCTURE HAVING A FRONT PORTIONPRESENTING THE APPEARANCE OF A MAN''S BATHROBE, AND HAVING A V-NECKLINGOPENING AND A FULL-LENGTH LAPPED FRONTAL JUNCTION EXTENDING FROM SAIDNECKLINE OPENING TO SAID HEMLINE, THE OVERLAPPING EDGES OF SAID JUNCTIONBEING RESPECTIVELY EXTRAPOLATIONS OF THE APPOSING INWARD EDGES OF SAIDV-NECKLINE AND EXTENDING FROM THE LOWER EXTREMITY OF SAID V-NECKLINE TOSAID HEMLINE, AND A PAIR OF SINGLE ROWS OF STITCHING COMMENCING AT SAIDLOWER EXTREMITY AND EXTENDING ALONG SAID EDGES RESPECTIVELY TO POINTSBELOW A WAIST LINE OF SAID GARMENT, SAID ROWS OF STITCHING SECURING THEUPPER PORTION OF SAID LAPPED FRONTAL JUNCTION, AND THE LOWER PORTION OFSAID JUNCTION BEING OPEN FROM THE LOWER TERMINI OF SAID ROWS OFSTITCHING TO SAID HEMLINE.